Folding table.



PATENTED JULY 14, 1903.

J. A. KNIGHT.

FOLDING TABLE.

APPLICATION TILED JULY 7, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

UNIT D STATES PATENT Patented July 14, 1903.

OFFICE.

FOLDING TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,661, dated July 14, 1903.

Application filed July 7, 1902. Serial No. 114,620. (No model.)

New Hampshire,have invented a new and use-- ful Folding Table, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to tables and like articles of furniture having legs which are adapted to be folded when the article of furniture is not in use, and has for its object to secure a table of simple construction, cheap, and durable, and which when extended will be firmly supported.

The invention consists in certain novel features of the construction,as hereinafter shown and described, and specified in the claims.

The invention may be applied to tables employed for different purposes-such as sewingtables, card-tables, picnic lunch-tables, and the likeand which may be likewise employed in connection with some forms of chairs, stools, toy tables and chairs, and similar articles of furniture, and I do not, therefore, wish to be limited in the application of the invention, but reserve the right to apply it to any device wherein folding legs or sup-- ports are employed.

For the purpose of illustration the invention is shown applied to a conventional form of table,the figure representing a perspective View of the table viewed from beneath, with two of the legs folded and two extended.

The invention may be applied to any of the usual forms of table; but for the purpose of illustration the body 10 of the table is formed of octagonal shape, as shown, with four legs 11 12 13 14.

Attached to the under side of the table-top 10 are springs, (indicated at 15,) preferably formed of a single piece of wire, connected at intervals to the under side of the top 10 by clips 16 and passing through each of the legs below their tops, as shown at 17, and exerting their force to support the legs either in their extended position, as shown by the legs 11 14, or to hold the legs folded, as indicated by the legs 12 13. The tops of the legs 18 are comparatively broad, so that they engage the under side of the top 10 with a correspondingly-broad surface, so that they will engage the table when the force of the springs is exerted upon them with a sufficient stability to prevent vibrations between the leg and the table, while at the same time the legs will yield to a force exerted laterally against their lower ends, so that they may be folded down in alinement with the table-top, as indicated at 12 13. By this simple means when the legs are extended the springs will hold them firmly in position and enable them to resist any lateral strains to which the legs would be subjected while in use, but at the same time will yield to lateral pressure when the legs are to be folded.

As before stated, the springs 15 will preferably be formed of one single piece of wire, preferably spring-steel, and when applied to a table or other piece of furniture equal in length and width will be circular in form, with the ends coupled together, as indicated at 18, and secured at suitable points by the clips 16. By this means the wire 15 between each pair of the clips 16 becomes a separate and independent spring to support the leg through which it passes. When applied to an oblong piece of furniture, such as a sewing-table, the form of the spring-rod would necessarily be modified to conform to the change in shape of the table-top; but this would not be a departure from the principle of the invention, as the operation and the results produced would be the same.

The spring 15 might be formed in separate pieces, if preferred, each of the legs provided with its own separate andindependentsprin'g, formed and applied in the same manner as illustrated; butthis w0uld not be a departure from the principle of the invention or sacrifice any of its advantages, as the results produced and the mode of operation would be substantially the same in, both forms of the structure.

The legs may be made of any size, but will preferably be formed with the flat end 18 as broad as possible to effect the greatest possible stability.

The device may be applied to many forms of chairs or stools, as well as to other forms of furniture having supporting-legs. It will be found particularly adaptable to toy tables and chairs and other like articles of furniture.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a device of the class described, a table having a folding leg, a spring engaging said leg near its upper end, secured to the table at opposite sides of the leg and exerting pressure toward the plane of the table to support said leg yieldably in its extended position and forming a hinge between the table and the leg.

2. In a device of the characterdescribed, a table having a plurality of foldable legs, a spring-rod engaging said legs successively and connected to the table intermediately of the legs, and exerting its force to independently support said legs yieldably in their extended positions and forming independent hinges between the legs and the table, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the character described, a table having a plurality of foldable legs, a spring-rod connected to said table intermediately of the legs and passing successively through said legs at a distance from their ends, whereby said rod exerts its force to in dependently support said legs yieldably in their extended positions, and formsindependent hinges between the legs and the table, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the character described, a table having legs with relatively broad upper ends loosely engaging the table, a spring-rod passing successively through said legs at a distance from said upper ends and connected to the table intermediatelylof saidlegs,whereby said rod exerts its force to independently support said legs yieldably in their extended positions, and forms independent hinges between the legs and the table, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN ANDREW KNIGHT.

Witnesses:

J. S. MERRIAM, H. H. WARD. 

